Main Event
Day 1a Completed
Main Event
Day 1a Completed
On Friday, Day 1a of the River Poker Series Main Event kicked off at WinStar World Casino and Resort. This $2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool event saw a grand total of 366 entires on its first starting flight. The field played down to the top 10%, or 37 players on Day 1a, resulting in a 15-hour day of poker. At the end of the day, it was Matthew Lapossie who led the tournament field, bagging up 658,000 in chips.
With just 10% of the starting field remaining, this means that each returning player is guaranteed a payday. The amount, however, will remain undetermined until registration for the tournament closes on Day 1c.
Lapossie jumped out to a huge chip lead just after the dinner break when he eliminated three other players in one hand. Lapossie held pocket queens to do the deed and after that moment commanded the largest stack in the room by a mile. He rode that momentum through the rest of the day and finished on top.
Right on Lapossie's heels, however, was Austin Lewis with 652,000. Lewis is having a stellar month, coming fresh off a victory in the CardPlayer Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event where he pocketed over $183,000 in prize money. He's guaranteed another payday with a good shot at another deep run here.
Quite possibly the most notable player to advance to Day 2 is 2010 World Series of Poker November Niner Joseph Cheong. Cheong had a roller coaster of a day, busting one bullet very early in the day. On his second bullet, he found himself short early once more, with our Live Reporting team spotting him as low as 8,000. He worked his magic and built that stack up as the day progressed, and ultimately put 511,000 in the bag. With this many chips in Cheong's arsenal, he'll certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the later stages of the tournament.
Other notable players to bag up at the end of Day 1a include Lynn Samples (401,500), Scott Clements (386,000), Pete Kaemmerlen (327,000), Jonathan Gaviao (310,000), 2012 River Poker Series Main Event runner-up Andy Robinson (204,500), Arthur Morris (126,500), Rep Porter (122,000), and Christian Harder (62,000).
While these players all advanced onto Day 2 and are guaranteed a payday, others came out and fell before the final hand of the day was dealt. Some of those to fall on Day 1a include Bryan Campanello, TJ Cloutier, Clint Tolbert, David "ODB" Baker, Allen Kessler, Noah Vaillancourt, Kyle Bowker, Kevin Saul, Ari Engel, David Tuthill, and WinStar poker ambassador Maria Ho. All of these players are likely to return to the felt on later starting flights to try their hands once again.
Play for Day 1b kicks off on Saturday at 12 p.m. local time. Players should expect a long day of poker as the 1b field will once again be whittled down to the top 10%. PokerNews will be on hand with all of the latest updates from the tournament floor.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Matthew Lapossie |
658,000
93,000
|
93,000 |
|
||
Austin Lewis |
652,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Vasile Fabian |
610,000
610,000
|
610,000 |
Joseph Cheong |
511,000
-69,000
|
-69,000 |
|
||
Chris Drake |
427,500
427,500
|
427,500 |
Lynn Samples |
401,500
-8,500
|
-8,500 |
Scott Clements |
386,000
-89,000
|
-89,000 |
|
||
Ichiro Takahata |
370,000
370,000
|
370,000 |
John Niccoli |
351,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
Pete Kaemmerlen |
327,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
Jonathan Gaviao |
310,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
Atm Kibria |
300,500
-84,500
|
-84,500 |
Andrew Spradlin |
300,500
300,500
|
300,500 |
Tommy Ackerman
|
298,000
298,000
|
298,000 |
Travis Rice |
276,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
Ron Pease
|
265,500
15,500
|
15,500 |
Tuong Pham |
260,500
260,500
|
260,500 |
Ryan Jaconetti |
256,000
46,000
|
46,000 |
Andy Robinson |
204,500
-5,500
|
-5,500 |
Gil George |
199,000
199,000
|
199,000 |
Kenneth Dobbs |
183,500
183,500
|
183,500 |
Pedro Palacio |
179,000
179,000
|
179,000 |
Esther Taylor-Brady |
152,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Arthur Morris |
126,500
126,500
|
126,500 |
|
||
Rep Porter |
122,000
-28,000
|
-28,000 |
|
A player moved all in before the flop for his last 62,000 and was called by Chris Drake. The cards were revealed to find that Drake was in need help in order to burst the bubble.
Drake:
Opponent:
"I folded an ace," chimed in a player at the table before the flop was dealt.
That was of no problem for Drake, though, as the board fell , giving him quad eights for the knockout. With that the bubble burst and players began bagging and tagging for the night. We'll have full chip counts posted soon.
With just 38 players remaining, hand-for-hand play has begun. Once one player is eliminated, the field will bag and tag for the evening, each guaranteed a payday on Day 2.
We found Austin Lewis sitting with 650,000 in chips in front of him which is good enough to move him past Joseph Cheong into the chip lead. Lewis recently took down the Choctaw Card Player Main Event on August 1st for $183,025. A deep run here could top that great result.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Austin Lewis |
650,000
650,000
|
650,000 |
39 players remain. Brandon Steven was recently eliminated in unknown action.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Joseph Cheong |
580,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
||
Matthew Lapossie |
565,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
||
Scott Clements |
475,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
||
Lynn Samples |
410,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
John Niccoli |
325,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
Travis Rice |
275,000
-85,000
|
-85,000 |
Ron Pease
|
250,000
-120,000
|
-120,000 |
Andy Robinson |
210,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
Ryan Jaconetti |
210,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
Jonathan Gaviao |
175,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
Rep Porter |
150,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
||
Esther Taylor-Brady |
150,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Grayson Ramage |
150,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
Christian Harder |
80,000
-135,000
|
-135,000 |
|
||
Brandon Steven | Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
The tournament field is down to the final four tables or 40 players. That means after two eliminations the field will go hand-for-hand until the top 37 players are reached.
Joseph Cheong opened for a raise to 14,000 and Grayson Ramage reraised to 31,000. It was folded back to Cheong who made the call. Both players would check the flop and Cheong would check-call a 22,000 bet from Ramage on the turn. The river was the and Cheong checked again. Ramage put out a bet of 58,000 and after just a few seconds Cheong put out a single chip to indicate he was calling.
Ramage turned over for air and Cheong would take down the pot with better air — — as his king high was good. The table muttered their appreciation and Cheong is back up to 400,000 in chips while Ramage moved down to 180,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Joseph Cheong |
400,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
|
||
Grayson Ramage |
180,000
-95,000
|
-95,000 |